Well, it's another Tuesday in quarantine.  How are you all holding up?  We're doing fine over here.  Not a lot has changed since last week and the week before that and the week before that, although apparently, things are going to start opening back up here in Arizona this week and next.  My husband and sons are readying our jet skiis to hit the lake as soon as the gates open on Saturday.  I know they're ready to bust out of quarantine for good, but I'm still not sure if a grand reopening of the world is a solid idea.  It makes me nervous, I have to say.

In less controversial news, it's Tuesday again, time for my favorite bookish meme.  If you haven't joined in the fun of Top Ten Tuesday yet, you really should.  It's a great way to get involved in the book blogging community, visit favorite blogs, find new ones, discover fantastic-sounding books, and keep yourself entertained (something we all need right now).  Click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl to get all the details.

Not gonna lie, I'm not totally feeling today's topic of the Last Ten Books I've Abandoned.  I prefer to keep TTT a positive thing.  Also, there's the little problem of my faulty memory—I honestly wouldn't be able to dredge up the names of the last ten books I DNF'd if I tried!  Since I couldn't think of a creative way to spin the topic du jour, I'm just going to chatter generally about the Top Ten Reasons I Might Abandon a Book (in no particular order):

• The story is moving way too slllloooowwwwwlllllly and I'm bored with it.  I've gotta have some action to keep me awake!
• The characters have no personality or they have personalities that grate on my nerves.
• The plot is too gory, violent, graphic, or disturbing.  I DNF'd a book last night and one last week for this reason.
• The writing is unskilled, unpolished, or just downright terrible.
• My own moodiness.  Sometimes books that would otherwise grab me just don't at a certain time, for no particular reason other than my mood.
• Too much cheese!  When it comes to food, there is no such thing.  Books are different, though.  Too much corny, saccharine, or eye roll-worthy prose and/or dialogue and I'm out.
• Serial OCD.  I've abandoned (or, rather, postponed) a number of books I've randomly grabbed at the library because I later discovered they were part of a series.  I refuse to read books in a series out of order, even when other people swear up and down that they don't need to be read in order.  Yes, they do, Karen!  Yes.  They.  Do.
• I just don't care.  Have you ever been in the middle of a book only to realize you really couldn't care less what happens next?  This occurs to me fairly often, usually because the characters are unlikable or just too flat to really make me interested in what happens to them.
• Certain topics.  There are topics I just don't like to read about, either because they make my blood boil or my stomach turn or my head/heart hurt.  If I encounter these subjects in a novel, I almost always jump ship.
• Variety.  I like to read several different genres, shuffling between them to keep my reading life interesting.  If I start with a book and realize it's too similar to something else I've read lately, I'll usually abandon it, even if just for the time being.

Have you read The Heirloom Garden?  What did you think?

Thanks to the generous folks at Harlequin (a division of HarperCollins) for sending me an e-ARC of The Heirloom Garden!